


A Thief By Any Other Name

by beautyoftheshadows (orphan_account)



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 23:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10774413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/beautyoftheshadows
Summary: Parker and Hardison have a disagreement.





	A Thief By Any Other Name

               “-if you want a new name, I can cook you up an airtight alias in forty-eight hours.”

               “That’s _not_ what I want.”

               From his spot in the doorway, Eliot Spencer cleared his throat loudly. Parker and Hardison, startled out of their argument, looked over at him. His gaze flicked from one to the other, and then he rolled his eyes and took a seat around the conference table. Parker scooted off the table, away from her fiancé.

               “Run it,” she said, her voice all business, and Hardison flicked on his fancy powerpoint.

               “All right,” he said, “this is Adrian Marcus, founder and CEO of _Garrison Financial_. He’s been accused of fraud multiple times, but no one’s been able to make it stick…”

               Eliot watched his partners carefully as they laid out the plan. There was no residual tension- they were professionals, after all- but there was something going on.

* * *

 

               “You gonna tell me what your fight with Parker was about?” Eliot asked.

               “Now?” Hardison asked. “We gotta do this _now_?”

               Eliot shrugged. It might not have been the best time to bring it up, as they were in a spare office of the mark’s company, keeping an eye on the security cameras and waiting to make their move, but at least they were alone, and Parker was off the comms for the next thirty minutes.

               “It wasn’t a fight, okay? It was a disagreement.”

                “Oh, whatever _._ Just tell me what’s going on!”

               “Parker…” Hardison paused, swiveling around in his chair to face Eliot. “Parker wants to take my name.”

               “What?”

               “When we get married. Parker wants to take my last name. And it’s just- it’s _my_ name, you know? I’m Hardison! Me, not her. And I just- I don’t see the point. It’s not like she _has_ a legal name anyway.”

               “It’s not about the name, man.” Eliot said, shaking his head. For the smartest man he knew, Hardison sure could miss some obvious things.

               “What do you mean, it’s not about the name? Did you even hear me? She’s trying to _take_ my name. And, like, what happened to female equality and all that?”

               Eliot rolled his eyes. “It’s about family. It’s symbolic or whatever. Parker’s never had a family, and now that she’s got one, she wants to hold onto it.”

               “Oh.” Hardison was silent for a moment, thinking. “My Nana, her last was _Davis_. And us kids, we had all kinds of names. There was a Johnson, and a Rodriguez, and a couple of Smiths, and most of us, we didn’t have the same last name. We were a foster family, I mean, we came from all over, and not sharing a family name- it didn’t make us any less of a family.”

               Eliot shrugged. “All kinds of families in the world, Hardison.”

               “So… so what do I do?”

               “Damn, man, I don’t know! I’m not your therapist. Just think about it.”

               “Yeah,” Hardison said, turning his attention back to the screen. “Will do.”

* * *

 

               “You’re Parker, okay? And you always will be. Parker the thief, Parker the mastermind, Parker the sexy, smart, amazing love of my life. That’s who you _are_ , baby.”

               Parker frowned, arms folded across her chest. “I-”

               “Hold on,” he said, holding his hands up. “I’m not done. Changing your name isn’t gonna change that. You’re still gonna be Parker. But I don’t see any reason you can’t be Parker Hardison.”

               She looked up at him, smiled. “Really?” She whispered.

               “Yeah, baby,” he nodded, smiling gently. “You and me, we’re a family. And if sharing a name lets the whole world know how much we love each other, then I’m not gonna object to that.”

               She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I love you.”

               “I know.”


End file.
